IN SEVEN years as chief executive of Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson has cemented his reputation as the hardest man on Wall Street.

Asked to define his style as king of the financial services world, contemporaries use metaphors rooted in the physical. “He has sharp elbows” is one description. “He takes no prisoners” is another. And, when he has identified a target in a deal, “he will beat it to a pulp and drag it home for dinner”.

Although Goldman has enjoyed record successes during his time as chief executive, Mr Paulson will more than likely be remembered for his part in the ousting of Richard Grasso as chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange and for anointing John Thain, a former Goldman Sachs executive, as his replacement.

The Grasso affair seemed like a political campaign worthy of Machiavelli’s The Prince. Mr Paulson was an NYSE board member who worked behind the scenes to expose Mr Grasso’s personal excesses until public opprobrium forced the chief executive out.

The Goldman boss used his influence to promote Mr Thain as the new chief executive, whose first task in the job was to strike a merger between the exchange and Archipelago, an electronic share-trading firm. Archipelago was 15 per cent owned by Goldman, which, of course, advised on the merger. So, as is usually the case with Mr Paulson, the Grasso affair was all about the deal in the end.

Mr Paulson, who grew up on a farm in Illinois, studied English literature at America’s Dartmouth College. He was a top American football player, named All Ivy League, All Eastern and All American champion. He met his wife, Wendy, with whom he has two children, while studying for his MBA at Harvard.

Although he worked for Goldman for three decades, Mr Paulson began his career as an aide to President Nixon. He was initially reluctant to return to Washington and turned down the Treasury Secretary’s job when it was first offered it to him. One of Mr Paulson’s big concerns was the Administration’s environmental record. But President Bush persisted, a Goldman source said. “When the President of the United States makes you an offer in person, you cannot turn it down.”

HOW BENEFITS OF THE JOB COMPARE

As chairman and chief executive, Goldman Sachs

Salary: $600,000, no cash bonus. In 2005, received 224,777 restricted stock shares worth $30.1m, stock options on 220,392 shares worth $7.3m. Car and driver worth $153,931 plus $23,616 medical/dental premiums, $22,000 pension contribution

Total 2005 pay: $38.8m, up 21 per cent on previous year

Wealth: owns stock worth $540m and options worth at least $200m, which he will put into a blind trust or sell for his time at the Treasury

As Treasury Secretary, United States of America

Salary: $175,700

Flights: business class only, no first class

Office: the Treasury building, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC

Health and safety: as well as health benefits, the Secretary receives a security detail from the US Secret Service

Other perks: signing the greenback. Roughly eight billion dollar bills are printed each year, each bearing the Treasury Secretary’s signature

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